


ZPD: The Twin Case

by MagnificentVillainx



Category: Zootopia (2016)
Genre: Bunnies, Doppelganger, F/M, Foxes, robbers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-09-05
Updated: 2016-09-08
Packaged: 2018-08-13 02:07:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 12,840
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7958194
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MagnificentVillainx/pseuds/MagnificentVillainx
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Both Nick and Judy got a week off from their jobs due to their recent and high quality performance in the ZPD, they headed to Bunny Burrows and spent their free time there in Judy's parents farm. However, when they returned, they found a very nasty surprise waiting for them back at the city; Judy Hopps and Nicholas Wilde were now considered as criminals.</p><p>Someone's been doing really bad things in their absence, so it's up to them to clean their name and catch the true culprits of their new infamy.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Welcome Back

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Both Nick and Judy got a week off from their jobs due to their recent and high quality performance in the ZPD, they headed to Bunny Burrows and spent their free time there in Judy's parents farm. However, when they returned, they found a very nasty surprise waiting for them back at the city; Judy Hopps and Nicholas Wilde were now considered as criminals.
> 
> Someone's been doing really bad things in their abscense, so it's up to them to clean their name and catch the true culprits of their new infamy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Remember to call for any typos! I'm doing my best to improve both content and orthography.
> 
> Hope you enjoy this new story!

~Tundratown, Great Igloo Gallery~

 

The Great Igloo Gallery of Tundratown was almost completely in silence, the only things that were preventing the place to remain cold and calm like a grave, were the quite sound of the steps of the guards that were patrolling through the corridors of the building. It was already midnight, all entrances were closed and the place was under extreme surveillance, not just because of the guards, there were also cameras, invisible lasers, hidden alarms attached to every piece of art that was being held inside the gallery.  
  
Only a fool would dare to burgle a place like that, it was destined for every burglar to fail, it was impossible for one mammal to do it... but for two, it wasn't.  
  
_INTRUDER ALERT, INTRUDER ALERT!_  
  
The sound of a broken display case triggered all the alarms in the gallery, red lights began to dye the entire place with a red facade, the defensive system of the gallery was also triggered and activated the safe metal coatings that instantly covered all of the remaining display cases around the gallery to prevent any other item from the building to be stolen by whoever the daring intruder was.  
  
In the security room, the guards gazed at one of the multiple screens that were attached to the control panel, in that screen, they could see a blurry image of two mammals running away from the main exhibition room with what it seemed to be, a big sack on the back of one of them, probably keeping there the piece that they'd just stolen a few moments ago. The guards activated the speakers that were scattered around the gallery, calling all the units to reunite at what apparently was the place to where the mysterious robbers were running to; the old bullking's ship exhibition room, placed right in the heart of the gallery.  
  
When all the guards arrived, they stood in front of the giant bullking ship, a brown and old boat that was one used by the ancient bullking norse, that had lived in in the far north of the planet. Anyone would have appreciated the remaining piece of their civilization, but the guards were all gazing at something different, someone actually, the two shadow-like figures were standing right in the bow of the ship.  
  
"It's been nice to see all of you tonight gentlemen!", the first figure, that was a lot smaller than the other, raised his left paw as if he was finishing some kind of circus act.  
  
"But we're afraid that we've already ran out of time!", the second figure, that was taller than the first, took what it seemed to be a fedora out from his head.  
  
"So before we leave...", the first figure placed both of his paws in his waist.  
  
"We just wanted to say to all of you...", the second figure placed his fedora back on his head, then the two figures slowly began to make the pose of a reference, with one arm attached to theirs chests, and the other one stretched right away.  
  
Then the two figures spoke at the same time, "That it's been a great time stealing your precious goodies'!".  
  
When they raised up their chests, the taller figure pulled out a strange kind of gun from his clothes, he aimed it to the big window that was right on top of the bullking ship in which they were standing, pulled the trigger and suddenly, a hook with a rope attached blasted off from the gun's mouth and pierced through the crystal, breaking it in a million of pieces. The hook was now attached to one of the window's edge, and while the crystal's fragments were raining above the guards, the tall figure wrapped with one of his arms his smaller companion, he pulled the trigger again and the two burglars began to ascend at an incredible speed.  
  
"Don't let them get away!", one the guards pointed towards the runaway pair, then the entire guard force began to shoot with their tranq-guns at them.  
  
In mid-air, the tall figure revealed a cape from his shadow form, he used it as a shield and deflected all of the darts that were going to hit both of he and his companion, ensuring that their escape wouldn't be prevented.  
  
When they arrived at the end of the hook, the shadow figures began to run across the rooftop, but more guards showed up from the cabin that leaded to the lower levels of the gallery, all of them were now pursuing the two rogues. The shadow figures got one of the edges of the building, they gazed at the void that was in front of them, they were at really high height above the streets of the city, and they could feel the cold wind passing through their distinguished attires...  
  
"Stop!", the group of guards were now aiming all of their guns at the runaway couple, who seemed to be finally trapped between the void and the guards.  
  
"Oh no, we've made a terrible mistake!", the smaller figure placed down the sack that he was carrying, then he raised up his paws in the air like if he was surrendering to the guards.  
  
"Indeed my dear...! we never thought that...", the tall figure did the same, now the two of them had their paws raised in the air.  
  
"It would be actually necessary to...", after the last line of the small figure, the tall figure pulled out a strange device from his clothes.  
  
"Use this trick to escape!", the tall figure pressed a button from the device, and as soon as he did it, red shining lights began to glow below the guards feet, all across the rooftop area in which they were standing.  
  
_BOOM!_  
  
Hidden explosives detonated in the rooftop, and it came crashing down towards the inner level of the gallery, sending the guards down in a trip filled with pain, they were now all buried below the remaining ruins of the roof, while the burglars were chuckling as they gazed at their victims through the big hole that the explosion left behind. The tall figure pulled out the hook gun once again, aimed to the roof of a building that was just across the street of the gallery and pulled the trigger, when the hook was attached to the edge of the other building, the figure began to fly across the air through the rope alongside his small companion... they disappeared in the shadows, leaving the battered guards behind, and with a big explanation to give to their superiors by the time they managed to get out from there.  
  
_____________________________________  
  
                                                                                          ~Bunny Burrows, Hopps Farm~  
  
Judy and Nick had spent their week off from their work in Judy's parents house at Bunny Burrows, a good amount of fresh and clean air from the fields of blueberries and carrots was just what the couple of cops needed. They were now packing all of their things up in their travel bags and suitcases inside the house, both of Judy's parents were waiting for them at the outside near the van, since Stu had offered to take them to the train station the day that they were planning to go back to Zootopia.  
  
"Niiick!, hurry up!, we're going to get late to the train station!", Judy was at the living of her house, she was wearing her usual pink shirt and blue jeans.  
  
Nick was upstairs in the guest room, so his voice could be heard hardly in the distance, "I'm almost finished!, I'm changing clothes!".  
  
"It's always the same with you... dumb, lazy fox...", Judy's ears lowered, she gazed at a clock that was attached at one of the walls of the house and groaned as a sign of dislike.  
  
The fox appeared from the corridor in the second floor, he was wearing the same green shirt, dark tie and khaki pants of always, he began to slowly climb down the stairs while carrying two big travel bags in his paws, "Okay, I'm ready your highness".  
  
"Weren't you changing clothes?".  
  
"And that's exactly what I did!".  
  
Judy gazed at him from head to toe, "You look the same exact as always to me...".  
  
Nick placed both travel bags in the ground, he knelt in front of one of them and opened it, revealing at least five exact copies of the same clothes set that he was wearing, five green shirts, five dark ties, and five pairs of khaki pants.  
  
"That explains a lot" Judy chuckled and walked towards the door, "C'mon, my dad's waiting for us".  
  
The two officers, now dressed as normal citizens, exited the house and took a deep breath of the fresh air of the fields, since that would be one of the last times that they could taste the clean breeze of Bunny Burrows for some time now, their week off had just ended, and at the next day, they would have to show up at the station in their habitual work routine.  
  
Aboard of the van and already on the way to the train station, Judy was gazing through the window and Nick was eating blueberries, both of them were sat in the co-pilot seat of the vehicle, while Stu was the one driving.  
  
"So, did you like Bunny Burrows Nicholas?", Stu rolled his eyes towards Nick for just a brief moment, he couldn't loose his sight on the road.  
  
"It's been great mister Hopps, your blueberries are simply -swallow- delicious", Nick chuckled.  
  
"I'm really glad to hear that!, maybe I should introduce Gideon to you, he's my fellow associate and-".  
  
Thought Judy was watching the infinite fields of grass and crops through the van's window, she had her ears listening every single word that came from both Nick's or her dad's mouth, _'It's great to see that my dad and Nick are hanging up so well... I have to admit I was a little worried about at the start, with Nick being a fox and all the "reject" that my parents had toward his specie... but in the end everything went perfectly, they knew, they talked, they joked, I even saw them laughing together... it just made me feel really happy'._  
  
"Is that true Jude?".  
  
"Huh?", Judy's ears weren't picking every single word as she thought that they would, they were now down and she didn't know that to answer.  
  
"Weren't you listening carrots?", Nick chuckled and ate another blueberry, "I just told your dad that I would love to comeback sometime...".  
  
"Oh!", her ears raised up again due to the thrill of the idea, "of course!".  
  
"Yeah that's the spirit!, we would gladly receive you again in our farm!", Stu gave Nick's shoulder a couple of soft and gentle palms as a sign of affection and respect, which made Judy, who was gazing at Nick, smile even more that she already was.  
  
When the three of them arrived to the station, Stu helped the two partners to take down their luggage and equipment down from the van's back, then he took them to the boarding platform, where they could wait for the train to arrive. It was already seven p.m., so they would arrive to Zootopia luckily before night, they could go to eat something together or watch a movie, and then be ready for tomorrow's reinsertion on their work.  
  
The train arrived a couple of minutes after they got to the station, Judy turned her back to the surrounding fields and smirked, it had been a great week with her great family and her greatest friend, but now it was time to say goodbye. She hugged her dad and gave him a kiss on his cheek, while Nick gave him a handshake and smiled at him, after that, the grey rabbit and the fox began to walk towards the opening doors of the parked train...  
  
But they knew that something was horribly wrong by the time they gazed at the mammals that were inside the train.  
  
There were all kinds of passengers arriving at Bunny Burrows, most of them were preys that were going to stay some time for vacations and stuff, just like Judy and Nick did, the remaining mammals were minority preds', like lions, tigers, and cheetahs. As soon as the mammals that were going to descend gazed at the rabbit and the fox that were in front of them, the entire wagon seemed to be bothered and disgusted by their mere presence, they gave them gazes of reject and repulsion, and made sounds like groans in signals of dislike. Neither Judy or Nick knew what was all that about.  
  
When they were inside the train, they sat in one of the many benches that were attached to the walls and floor of the train, they tried to ignore the strange gazes from the rest of the passengers, but they just couldn't do it, not when even a baby elephant was looking at them like if they had just stolen the exam sheets from the teacher's desk when nobody was looking, and they used them to cheat in the written test. The mammals started to go farther in their mission of harassing the couple of cops, they started to murmur between themselves.  
  
"Psst... carrots...", Nick was speaking softly and low, he didn't turn to look at Judy, he was petrified looking at the eyes of a horse that was right in front of him, "do you hear what they're saying?".  
  
"Let me see...", Judy responded in the same tone, she slowly began to raise her ears in an attempt to listen to the mammals' murmur.  
  
'Yeah, it's them definitely... I don't know what they're doing here... They think that we don't recognize them?... We should call the local police!'.  
  
"So?, did you hear something?", Nick finally broke the enchantment of the horse's eyes, he turned back at Judy and found that his fellow partner was looking the same way that he was just a few moments ago, staring at one of the walls of the train.  
  
The train closed his doors and began to leave the station, Judy approached to Nick's ears and spoke softly "I think someone's been busy while we were out Nick...".  
  
The trip back to Zootopia was really uncomfortable, Judy and Nick couldn't move a muscle due to the constant invisible attacks that they received from the eyes of the other passengers, it was almost like if they were shooting lasers from them, trapping the couple of cops inside a box of lasers, and if they ever dared to touch of those energy rays, or moved from they seat, they would surely trigger the alarm and receive an even more heavier and hard look from them.  
  
After being a while literally immobilized and frozen in their seats, the train finally arrived at the station, it was the same place to were Judy arrived the first time that she got to the city, but unlike that time, she wasn't enjoying any second of their return, they just wanted to get out of there as quick as possible, and, immediately after the doors opened, they began to walk hasty towards the exit of the station, gaining in the way, the attention of multiple mammals that seemed to recognize them as well, just like the passengers that harassed them during the whole trip.  
  
In the outside of the station was the same, everyone gazed them with looks of surprise and reject, they didn't like one bit the presence of the returning couple, Judy and Nick knew that something very bad had happened while they were absent for the last week, and they couldn't wait for tomorrow to solve things up, so they ran away from the center of the town, and aimed directly for Judy's apartment, since it was closer that Nick's... Nick's... Judy's apartment was closer.  
  
"What the heck is going on?, we leave for a week... and when we comeback, everyone hate us!", Nick was attaching his badge to his chest.  
  
"Someone must have done something really, really bad, and blamed us for it", Judy placed one of her paws below her chin while grabbing her elbow with the other arm.  
  
"Yeah, but who?, and why?", Nick turned to his partner.  
  
"I wouldn't know exactly... but maybe the guys at the office can tell us something".  
  
"At this hour of the night?", Nick gazed at Judy as she opened the door leading to the corridor.  
  
"Well, at least I know that Bogo's the whole day in the office, and he should be all that we need".  
  
"I see... but", Nick stopped right when he was about to leave Judy's apartment while walking behind her, "do you think that everyone in the ZPD also hate us now?".  
  
"Oh c'mon Nick, they're our friends!", the now uniformed couple of cops exited from the corridor and climbed down the stairs, they were going to get to the bottom of this strange situation now matter what.  
  
But then, in the ZPD, they found themselves trapped inside their office, they had moved their desks and their chairs in order to block the door leading to the outside, since there was a whole brigade of cops trying to enter by the force and arrest them immediately.  
  
"This is the worst idea that you've ever had carrots!", Nick was pressing hardly the barricade, the door was shaking due to the cops' constant charges.  
  
"I was wrong okay?!, we have to get out of here!", Judy was also pressing, but her small size couldn't compete with the strength of all the rhinos, lions, elephants, wolves, and more that were pushing their door.  
  
Nick shouted, "For fox's sake... what the hell it's wrong with them?!" then he turned his gaze around the office and found something very interested glued on one of the walls, "carrots...", he stopped from pressing the barricade, he shook one of Judy's shoulder and pointed towards the element that got his attention.  
  
Judy's eyes widened and her ears went down as she gazed at the direction that Nick pointed towards, "Are those... "wanted" signs?".  
  
There were two signs glued and hanging in the wall, both of them colored all black and white. One was the portrait of a fox on disguise and the other was a rabbit who wore a really similar outfit... it seemed that they were officially meeting their criminal counterparts, or at least, getting an idea of what had happened during their absence.


	2. No More Friends

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Both Nick and Judy got a week off from their jobs due to their recent and high quality performance in the ZPD, they headed to Bunny Burrows and spent their free time there in Judy's parents farm. However, when they returned, they found a very nasty surprise waiting for them back at the city; Judy Hopps and Nicholas Wilde were now considered as criminals.

~ZPD, Hopps & Wilde Office~

 

Both portraits were showing the mysterious doubles upper body parts only, but it was more than enough to freak out both Nick and Judy.   
   
The two crooks had an incredibly refined and stylish type of look, like if their were some kind of "royal" villains whose secret hideout could be an abandoned castle or palace, and thought those weren't their real attires' colors since the images were in black and white, they still were sort of quirky.   
   
The rabbit was labeled in the wanted sign as "Masked-J", there was a reward for one hundred thousand dollars for the mammal's head written right below the photograph, in which he was wearing a pretty elegant dark colored coat with big grey shoulder pads that were square shaped, beneath the coat he had a vest similar to the one of Judy's police uniform, but instead of being blue it was all black with dark buttons at the center, it was also possible to see a white shirt with a bow tie at the collar, and in his head, he was wearing an black top-hat with a darker tie surrounding it with a huge "J" logo in front of the hat, but even thought his superb and stylish attire, he wouldn't show his true face, since it remained hidden below a happy opera mask with a black tear drawn below his right eye.   
   
The fox, in the other hand, had "Masked-N" written on top of it, with the same amount of money as reward placed below the photograph. The fox's appearance had the same essence that his criminal partner, he had the same exact black vest, but with no coat on top of it, his shirt was white and he had a huge black ribbon in his collar, a long and dark cape attached to his shoulders, a black fedora on his head with a dark feather on one of its sides, and just like the rabbit, he had a huge "N" in the hat's front part, and his face was completely covered a happy opera mask with a black tear drawn below his left eye.  
   
There was a few more texts written beneath the reward and the portraits, including the list of crimes that the duo had perpetrated since their debut a week ago, which all of them were robbery issues, and the list of gadgets that they had apparently been using to commit them, there listed tools like grappling hooks, stun grenades, smoke bombs, explosive devices, tranq-darts, "exploding" cards, sleeping gas, "razor" hats, and many other strange devices that were probably designed by the duo, but the list was far from over.   
   
"And those two are supposed to be us?!", Judy grabbed the rabbit's portrait and squeezed it with her paws, "They don't even show their faces!".   
   
"Hmm...", Nick grabbed the fox's portrait and gazed at the fox ears that were popping out from the fedora, they were just like the ones he had, "A fox and a rabbit?, is this some kind of a joke?".   
   
"That's what I want to know!", Judy stretched the portrait back again in the wall and gazed at the rabbit's image, "Does he even look like me?".   
   
"It seems that it does for our old colleagues and the entire city...", Nick looked back at the shaking door, groans and mumbles from the outside were intensifying with every second.   
   
"Oh, sweet cheese and crackers... I got it!", Judy went to the window and opened it, "Do you think we can make it safe to the ground?".   
   
Nick gazed at the void, they were at the second floor of the precinct so it wasn't going to be a nice fall, but fortunately for the trapped cops, Nick had a trick hidden in his sleeve. He snapped his fingers as he said "Wait!, I got it!, he ran towards his desk that was holding the door and began to search through all the drawers in it, he took out pencils, worksheets, notebooks, small boxes of blueberries, toilet paper, glue, and in the end, he pulled out both an air pump and an inflatable mattress.   
   
The fox quickly began to pump air into the mattress, while Judy was gazing surprised at her partner's both idea and equipment.   
   
"It's not that it's a bad idea but... why do you have those things in your drawer?", Judy chuckled as she covered her mouth with one of her paws.   
   
"Sometimes I want to relax a bit while I'm working, and there's nothing that relaxes me more than my sweet blue mattress", Nick smirked as he was finished with the pumping.   
   
The two cops returned to the window and let the mattress fall down to the ground. It landed perfectly right below the window, so all they had to do now was to climb down carefully and when they were close enough, they could release from the borders of the window and fall on top of the mattress, it was quite a good plan.   
   
But they had no time.   
   
The barricade flied backwards furiously, the charge of three rhinos and two elephants was finally enough to break the hold, the cops began to swarm the office and completely cover it from side to side, all of them aiming their tranq-guns at the trapped bunny and fox, who were standing right next to the window, shocked by the fact of how all of their old friends, including Francine, Wolford, Jackson, and others, were now ordering them to stand down and surrender. Soon, the crowd of cops began to stand aside and to open a corridor between their lines that lead directly to the open door, from where a very intimidating and nothing happy water buffalo was slowly walking towards the interior of the office, it was chief Bogo, who was gazing to both cops.   
   
"I can't believe you've had the guts to come here with such an stupid plan", Bogo snorted, "you thought that we would simply forgive you or something?".   
   
"Not you too chief!, you even know that we weren't in the city!", Judy tapped the floor with her feet and stretched her arms downwards.   
   
"I can't help it Hopps, I'll just tell you that...", all of the officers prepared to shoot, "I'm really disappointed".   
   
"Now now... chief", Nick walked towards the buffalo while smirking and sweating, "I'm pretty sure we can discuss this in a better way...".   
   
"I haven't forgot our last encounter Wilde...", Nick didn't knew of what "encounter" was he talking about, he wasn't even in the city while all of this happened, he fox thought that maybe his criminal duplicate may have done something to Bogo and, it was his fault now, "last warning... stand down or I'll tell my men to do it for you".   
   
Nick sighed, the fox knew it was time for one of his dirty tricks, "Okay, okay, we surrender... you got us".   
   
"What?!", Judy turned at her partner gazing angrily, but a shine in both Nick's teeth and eyes, made her understood that he had a plan, the bunny pretended a cough and giggled, "I mean... yeah... we have nowhere to go...".   
   
"Good to see that you've finally come to your senses", Bogo crossed his arms and snorted, "You'll have a lot to think and explain while behind bars".   
   
"Actually -cough- I think we can do it right now...", Nick quickly took something out from his pocket and raised it high in his paw, "After you taste one of our famous flash bangs!".   
   
"Not again!, everyone get down!", the entire police corp got down to the ground and covered their heads, even chief Bogo, who now wasn't looking at the treacherous fox.   
   
Nick's smirk grow drastically after seeing that his awkward but sly plan had actually worked, he gaze at Judy who was looking surprised at the cops' reaction, then he ran towards his partner and lifted her up, grabbing her in his arms, and without thinking it, he jumped through the open window, both of them were now falling down the void right on top of the inflatable mattress. During the fall, the fox made a quick turn in mid-air, he was now falling backwards and his partner was on top of him, and right before the impact, he hugged Judy to his chest as hard as he could.   
   
The landing wasn't so soft as Nick expected it to be, mostly because he took most of the recoil and prevented Judy from doing the same, he landed in his back and the bunny was now on top of him, the couple of cops was hugging and weren't moving... but Nick finally opened his eyes and gazed at his partner.   
   
"Are you okay carrots?", Nick felt how Judy's paws were grabbed tight on his chest and back.   
   
"I... I think so...", Judy's head was on top of Nick's chest and right below his chin, she raised it and was now looking into her partner's emeralds, "Thank you for making my landing more enjoyable than yours... what did you pull out from your pocket?".   
   
Nick threw a blueberry to his mouth and ate it, Judy chuckled and said, "You carry blueberries in your pockets all the time?".   
   
"You never know when they're going to save your life".   
   
"I guess you're right...", Judy took a deep breath and tightened the hold, "thank you".   
   
"Don't mention it... as far as you're okay...".   
   
They were gazing at each other while smiling, but they soon blushed and released the hold, they stood up and shook their uniforms, then gazed between themselves one more time smirking again and chuckling, but the cute moment was soon to be cut out since there was a large group of cops that were coming right out from the precinct's main access gate, running towards their current position, and both Nick and Judy noticed the fact that there was more than just one officer carrying a pair of handcuffs in their paws, which meant that none of them had good intentions... Judy spotted their patrol at the distance, the couple ran as fast as they could towards their vehicle, they hopped in, closed the doors, turned on the engine and immediately aimed for the exit, escaping successfully from the station.   
   
Bogo was at his boiling point, his face was red with anger, he grabbed Wolford by the collar and gazed at him while snorting furiously, "GET THEM. NOW", the terrified Wolf whistled to his fellow colleagues, all of the officers in the area were now hopping in their patrols and exiting from the station towards the same route that the runaway cops had took, while the angry buffalo was watching his troopers go with both of his arms crossed and showing his teeth, "Dumb couple".   
   
Savanna Central was now flooded with cop sirens, the citizens however found that the chase was confusingly odd, since actually there was no suspicious looking car or truck being pursued by a group of patrols, instead, it was just one patrol, being pursued by a whole battalion of police cars.   
   
After a brutal turn in a street, the fox and the bunny had temporarily lost their pursuers, but they knew that it wasn't going to last forever, so they had to come up with a new plan and it had to be quick.   
   
"Any bright ideas?!", Judy was gazing horrified at the road while driving.   
   
"Uhm... uhm...", Nick was searching through the car's interior, hoping to find something that would help them out, but he found a possible solution when he gazed through the co-pilot's seat window, after looking at a very familiar and well known weasel... he told Judy to park near the corner in which he was selling his pirate merchandise, and hope that they could get to an agreement.   
   
"Well!, if it isn't the new king and queen of crime!", the weasel chuckled as he gazed at the patrol's window, "I wasn't expecting that you'll join our side actually!".   
   
Nick took a deep breath and prepared for acting, "Of course! ehm... friend?, but you see, we need to ask you a favor...", the fox turned at his partner, who was looking to the back of the car, hoping that the cops wouldn't show up yet.   
   
"And what da' ya' want exactly?, huh?, help in another of yar' heists?".   
   
"No no... actually uhm... you see... we... we...", Judy hopped right on top of Nick's leg and resumed his dialog, "We decided to redesign this old looking patrol and buy a brand new car for...! for...!", Judy's ear dropped, but Nick took the word again just in time, "For future heists obviously!".   
   
The couple had fakes smiles in their faces, but the weasel apparently didn't cared, "And what about that?".   
   
"And... we've found a good designer!, but we've got some very big issues to solve about another ehm... heist", Nick's fake smile was slowly began to transform into a real one.   
   
"So we would like you to bring this patrol to him!", Judy's one however, wasn't going to change, "Can you give him the address Nick?", she hit Nick's arm softly with her elbow.   
   
Nick groaned, he wrote the first address that he could think of in his notepad, he tore the sheet and handed it to the weasel.   
   
"And what do I gain with this?", the weasel suddenly smiled thrilled, " Oh oh!, are ya' going to give me part of the cash of yar' next hit?!"   
   
The couple gazed at each other, then nodded and shouted at the same time, "Sure!".   
   
The two cops hopped down from the patrol and handed the keys to the weasel, after saying goodbye, they looked how the patrol slowly began to disappear in the distance, and while Judy was already breathing relaxed, the sound of sirens in the distance coming right in their way, made both her and Nick to hide in a close dark alley behind a thrash container. When the sirens had finally gone away, they stepped out from the shadows and went back to the weasel's stand.   
   
"You're in a roll sly fox, two times now that your crazy ideas save us...", Judy chuckled and gave five to her partner.   
   
"I told you I'm more than just a pretty face...", Nick chuckled and both began to walk way from the stand.   
   
"Right... anyway, what address did you wrote down for Weaselton?".   
   
Nick didn't answer, all that he did was to smile and remember that one day that Judy had convinced him for them to go to Jack Savage's holiday house in the city.   
   
After a couple of minutes walking through the streets of Savanna Central, the duo got to the alley were Judy discovered Nick and Finnick's pawpsicle business for the first time, Nick said that if there was one person in the entire city, besides Judy, that he could fully trust and grant that he'll help them to know what had happened during their absence in the last week... and that person was none other that Finnick itself, who had the van parked at the bottom of the alley. When Nick called to the back door of the van, Finnick opened it violently and appeared before the two officers swinging a baseball bat and shouting "Who is it?!", he was wearing his usual black shirt and short pale pants, and when he gazed at Nick and Judy, he didn't do anything else than gaze at the two officers with an angry look... Judy didn't understood what was happening to Finnick, she gazed at Nick, who just greeted his old companion with an; "Hello old buddy!".   
   
"Oh, so now you do remember me huh?", Finnick placed the baseball bat in one of his shoulders, "Mister masked fox?".   
   
"Ugh...", Nick rubbed his face with a paw, "Finnick look, it wasn'-".   
   
"And what's the reason for that the king and queen of crime of Zootopia decided to remember their ol' friend Finnick?, huh?!".   
   
Judy decided to interfere, "Finnick... we-".   
   
"As far as I'm concerned, you were supposed to be stealing another gallery or something!".   
   
"But please, let me ex-".   
   
"Do ya' want a ride?, do ya' want a pawpsicle?, stealing goodies for six days in a row it's too tiring?".   
   
"Finnick!".   
   
"Well I'll tell ya' something, ya' ain't gonna' get nuthin' from good ol' Fi-".   
   
"FINNICK!", Judy's shout echoed around the entire alley, a wolf's howl could be heard in the distance, while Finnick was gazing paralyzed at the now surprisingly intimidating eyes of the bunny, whose teeth were almost irradiating sparks as they pressed between each other.   
   
Finally, Nick and Judy entered the van, Finnick closed the doors and placed the baseball bat in the co-pilot's seat, he was now sitting in the back part with his old companion and his new bunny friend, there was an uncomfortable silence during a few seconds, since Finnick was still terrified by Judy, but Nick, who after swallowing and eating another blueberry, decided to ask Finnick about the recent events of the week.   
   
"So it wasn't you two huh?", Finnick chuckled and gazed at the van's floor.   
   
"No Finnick", Nick's smirk wasn't near to be found, "I even called you that day to tell you that I was taking a week off with carrots".   
   
Finnick sighed and finally calmed down after a deep breath. Nick and Judy went to Bunny Burrows last Monday around afternoon, and that same day, at midnight, the wave of robbery began, the first place to be hit was the Crime Museum from Downtown, there were no witnesses or security records about the theft, so no one actually knew what happened that night. However, the mysterious robber only took one artifact from the exhibition, which was an old type of scimitar that was found in Sahara Square a few weeks ago.   
   
The second day's night was the Ancient History museum's of Rainforest district to be robbed at the same hour. This time, the security cameras managed to take a photograph from the robber, who actually resulted to be two, a pair of robbers, but strangely, the shot's definition was too poor and blurry, like if someone prepared beforehand some sort of device to spoil the camera's circuit, so the capture showed their images just as shadow-like figures, one small and one mid-sized and again, the robbers only took one piece from the exhibition, an ancient saber tooth claw found in the forests at the outskirts of the city.   
   
In the third day, the ZPD made the decision the prepare ambushes in all the remaining museums and galleries that could be robbed that night, hopping that they could catch the culprits in the act, but the police's tactic only resulted half the way that it was expected. The Modern Day museum of Savanna Central resulted to the be thieves' target, Bogo was there alongside a small group of cops patrolling the hall and corridors of the museum, but they weren't counting with the use of tranq-darts by the mysterious pair of robbers, who managed to shut down most of the cop force that was reinforcing the already tough guard corp of the museum.   
   
Bogo came face to face with the thieves at the main room of the exhibition, which was holding an old and torn apart picture, there, after grabbing it, the mid-sized figure, who was later confirmed by the buffalo to be a fox, used some sort of flash bang to stun Bogo and blind him temporarily, using that chance to escape from the building with the use of a grappling hook.   
   
"I guess that explains Bogo's reaction in the ZPD...", Judy was waking notes in her notepad as Finnick continued talking.   
   
"And I guess that's the relevant part...", Finnick sighed, "more items were stolen from three other museums, the last one to be hit was the Great Igloo Gallery from Tundratown, which was robbed just yesterday".   
   
"They took one artifact again?", Nick placed one of his paw right below his chin.   
   
"Yeah, it was a diamond, a very special one", Finnick went to the pilot's seat and grabbed a bunch of newspapers, all of them had news about the robbers in the front page, they were from all the week, from Monday until now, Sunday night.   
   
The small fox showed the newspaper from yesterday, the headline was IGLOO GALLERY STOLEN: GREAT WHITE DIAMOND TAKEN AWAY.   
   
"And look, the cameras even managed to take clean and visible shots of the robbers", Finnick pointed towards the image at the center of the new, which was a photograph of the two crooks running by one of the corridors of the gallery, now it was possible to see their real attire colors.   
   
The rabbit's coat was green colored with orange shoulder pads, the vest was black with orange buttons, the shirt was white and the bow tie orange, the top-hat was green with the "J" being all colored orange, just like the tear of his white mask. While the fox's vest was also black but with no coat, his shirt was white and the ribbon was blue just like the cape and fedora on his head with a darker blue feather, the "N" was purple and the tear on his mask was blue. 

"To be honest, at first I didn't thought that it could be you... but when this rendered image appeared in the news... I...", Finnick rolled his eyes down.   
   
"Did you honestly think that we could have done something like that?", Nick shook his old associate's shoulders.   
   
"Hey!", Finnick pushed Nick away, "You're the only couple formed by a rabbit and a fox in the entire town, what was I supposed to think?!".   
   
"I guess he has a point...", Judy finished from taking notes and gazed at the picture, "Besides look... their paws... they also have grey and orange fur".   
   
"Yeah... great", Nick sat down in one of the van's corner, "so what do we do now?, we don't have anymore friends in the ZPD".   
   
"Don't worry Nicky, I can take ya' both to the doll's apartment", Finnick hopped in to the pilot's seat.   
   
"That's great!, thank you Finnick!", Judy jumped from joy.   
   
"Yeah, whatever...", when the van started to move, Finnick continued speaking softly, "Just as long as you don't meet Nick's place...".

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hard time describing the attire of the two burglars, I hope you can make a clear idea of them.
> 
> But if you want some visual orientation, search for "Tuxedo Mask" and "Mask DeMasque" on google or something, those characters were my two main sources of inspiration for the burglars' appereance, mostly like an elegant and refined villain type of style.


	3. Dropping a Bomb

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Both Nick and Judy got a week off from their jobs due to their recent and high quality performance in the ZPD, they headed to Bunny Burrows and spent their free time there in Judy's parents farm. However, when they returned, they found a very nasty surprise waiting for them back at the city; Judy Hopps and Nicholas Wilde were now considered as criminals.

~Savanna Central, Apartments~

 

The building in which Judy lived was crawling with cops, there were patrols around everywhere and many officers guarding the entrance, so it would be impossible for her and Nick to enter to her apartment, the two of them were gazing from a safe spot in a dark alley alongside Finnick inside the van.   
   
"I guess we can't stay at my place for tonight...", Judy's ears dropped down and so did their eyes.   
   
"So Nicky... ready to show her your home sweet home?", Finnick chuckled right in front of Nick's face, but he only got a pawpsicle stuck right inside his own face as an answer from his fellow fox companion.   
   
Finnick took the two cops to an old hangar near the bridge were Judy and Nick had reconciled during the Night Howler case, the place was awfully dark and wet, it seemed to be completely abandoned by whoever built it, but deep inside the building, they got to a gloomy room with a spotlight hanging in the center of the roof, there was an old and dirty mattress, a small fridge, a small table with two chairs, a shattered closet, a door that probably lead to the bathroom due to the horrible scent that was coming from there, and at last, a large sofa with a TV in front of it that was on top of a wooden crate... it was actually Nick's room, the hangar was his home.   
   
The small fox departed from the place and said that he'll be looking for any clues that Zootopia's underworld could give to him, in the meantime he would maintain a low profile among the streets. Judy gazed around the whole room, the walls were brick-made and all wet, the smell that was coming from the "bathroom" was drowning the whole place until Nick decided to close the door, "Stupid skunk...", the bunny didn't want to ask about what was that supposed to mean so instead, she walked towards the small table and sat in one of the chairs, took a deep breath and then smiled at her partner.   
   
"At least it's bigger than my place", Judy giggled, but Nick wasn't looking so happy, he was sitting in the mattress lying on the ground.   
   
"Yeah... bigger...", he was looking depressed towards the ground, resting his forearms in his knees and barely even moving his mouth to talk.   
   
"Hey...", Judy hopped down from the chair and sat right next to him, "don't feel any shame... It's fine, seriously, the police will not find us here...".   
   
"I know... it's just that", Nick sighed and then gazed at Judy, "I didn't want you to see this place until I could... uhm... change it".   
   
"You never told that you lived in such a...", Judy rubbed the mattress surface, "what I mean... didn't you won two hundred bucks' at day? I thought that you-".   
   
"Let's just say that there's a whole dark story about me and my "associates" that you don't know carrots... and from debt to debt, I ended up here", Nick stood up and walked towards the dishwasher, he took out an orange cup from the cupboard and filled it with water, then he drank it, "That's why avoid coming here as much as I can...".   
   
"Huh?", Judy stood up and walked until the point where she was right behind Nick, "what do you mean by that?".   
   
"I just come here to sleep carrots, nothing else... I spent the rest of the day in the office or in the street...", Nick took a deep breath and stretched his arms around showing the place, "I mean look at this dump, who could possibly enjoy something like this?, I admit I didn't care in the past but now... since I've become a cop and since I met you... I really wanted to... to change... I wanted it so badly but...".   
   
Judy rolled her eyes down to the ground, she knew how sad and ashamed Nick was feeling right now, she couldn't do much for him, or at least that's what she thought in that moment, the bunny closed in to her partner and grabbed his paws, she gazed at his green eyes and gave him a warm smile, none of the two mammals said anything, they were just staring at each other, and soon Nick began to share the smile that Judy was giving to him, they hugged for a few minutes and then released, apparently the fox was feeling much better now after Judy's affection and friendship show.   
   
"So... how are we going to sleep?", Judy gazed at the mattress on the ground, "I don't see any other mattress around here".   
   
"Guess what carrots... I hope you don't mind sleeping with a dumb fox like me", Nick walked towards the closet and pulled out a giant pillow and a pair of blankets and bed sheets, then he began to put everything in place.   
   
"You snore and I'm kicking you out", Judy chuckled and helped Nick with the mattress.   
   
"Don't worry, I won't", when they finished up with the mattress, they hopped on top of it and adjusted so they could gaze at each other, "If you want I can turn around so...".   
   
"It's okay Nick...", Judy giggled, "I didn't brought my pajamas, but if you got another type of clothes you can jus-".   
   
She couldn't believe, Nick literally had talked to her just a second ago, she closed her eyes to giggle and we she opened them back, the fox was already sleeping and snoring softly, Judy sighed and giggled, "dumb fox...", it was really fun to see Nick sleeping, his jaw was completely open and his nose tickled, she didn't thought that the first time they were going to sleep together was going to be while running away from the police, solving a case of stolen identities, and in an old and wet hangar which shamed Nick to the point where he wanted to disappear... but it was fine, she thought, after all, they were together, and that was all that really mattered for Judy in that instant, just the fact of sharing a bed -kind of- with him, was more than enough. Judy slowly began to close her eyes and to fall asleep, tomorrow they would have to do a lot of things to start restoring things back to their original state...   
   
__________________________   
   
When Judy woke up, she didn't open her eyes immediately, so she thought that the first thing that she was going to see was Nick's funny face that made her laugh the last night, but when she opened them up, she found that the fox had already got up, the other side of the mattress and Nick's uniform was lying on top of one of the chairs that were next to the small table, she gazed around trying to find her partner, and she finally did it, Nick was coming out from the room with the disgusting smell that strangely, was nowhere to be felt now, although there was something more disturbing than the vanished smell, and that was the fact that the fox was only wearing a towel that was covering his private parts.   
   
"Nick!", Judy hid below the blankets and dropped her ears, "put something on!".   
   
"Sorry carrots!, I didn't' mean to wake you up!", Nick ran to the closet and dressed up with his green shirt and purple tie in the blink of an eye, and in an ever faster blink, he put on his khaki pants, "okay, you can look now!".   
   
The bunny reemerged from the blankets tickling her nose, then she gazed back at the fox and sighed in a sign of relief, "Much better".   
   
"It's okay carrots, I tend to make girls react like that", Nick chuckled and went to the fridge.   
   
"Har-har", Judy's sarcastic laugh made Nick chuckle even more, the bunny got up from the mattress and stretched her whole body, she had slept better than she had expected, and was now walking towards her partner, "so what's the breakfast?".   
   
Nick pulled out two boxes of blueberries, one for him, and the other one for Judy, "Guess", the bunny chuckled and then the two cops went to the small table to eat their berries.   
   
Nick had called Finnick just a couple of minutes before Judy woke up, he asked him to bring them new clothes, since the entire ZPD already knew that they were "back" in the city, they would probably be searching for them through the entire districts, and even though they didn't knew about Nick's place, they couldn't take any risks. After eating the blueberries, Nick turned on the TV to see if the news would show up something regarding the mysterious doubles case, and it actually did, but not what the fox was expecting, "After six days of robbery, the pair known as the "Masked Duo" had finally decided to stop their wave of crime through the city's museums and galleries, since yesterday night, none of the already mentioned places were seemed to be visited during midnight", after hearing that last sentence, Judy gazed back at Nick.   
   
"They didn't do anything last night?".   
   
"It seems so, let's keep listening".   
   
"We are now live at the ZPD's first precinct in Savanna Central, where the buffalo in charge, chief Bogo has called for a press conference regarding the two robbers identities", the cheetah that was being shown in the camera began to walk towards a podium filled with microphones and that was surrounded by other reporters, Bogo was right behind it and was ready to release a bomb in both Judy and Nick's lives.   
   
"At first we didn't want to believe it, but after yesterday, we confirmed our worst nightmare...", Bogo snored and took a deep breath, "former officers Judy Hopps and Nicholas Wilde are indeed the Masked Duo and are currently running away from the police".   
   
The whole crowd went nuts and began to speak louder, photographers taking shots, reporters making tons of questions, cops trying to maintain order among the disturbed mammals, and Bogo, who had his eyes closed. A squirrel that jumped on top of a bear's shoulder made a question to the buffalo, "What proofs do you have to make such a serious accusation chief Bogo?", another round of chaos was served to the crowd, but it lasted less than the first one, Bogo then proceeded to answer, "The officers were given a week off from their works due to their high performance in recent months, and curiously, the same day that they left, the wave of robbers and heists began".   
   
"Bogo must be jok-".   
   
"Shhh!", Nick's intervention was interrupted by Judy, they continued listening to the TV.   
   
"And that's reason enough?", the cheetah that was conducting the report for the channel that Judy and Nick were looking, took the word and made a second question, "There's tons of rabbits and foxes around the city, how do you know it's actually them?".   
   
"I faced them once, the third day after the crimes began", Bogo was referring to the encounter with "Nick"'s flash bang, "the way they talked, the way they moved... I recognize two of my best men when I have them on sight".   
   
"At least he recognizes tha-".   
   
"Shhh!".   
   
A pig showed up from the crowd and made another question, "What can you tell us about yesterday chief?".   
   
"The former officers came to the ZPD, we still don't know why they would do this, but they immediately escaped from the precinct stealing their old patrol", the camera's flashes were illuminating the whole podium, "our officers chased them but they got away... they ended up chasing a weasel to a rabbit's residence in-".   
   
Nick was covering his eyes with both paws and wasn't looking anymore at the TV, Judy's ears were floppy and she was gazing at the ground, but Bogo's speech was far from being over just yet. He marked the relevance of the fact that the two of them had desperately resorted to the aid of another crook to help them in their escape, the fact that the robbers fur's color were strangely the same that the runaway cops, and finally, Bogo said that the same day that they "returned" from their vacation and escaped from the police, curiously, the two robbers didn't hit any museum or any gallery, they remained hidden in the shadows.   
   
Bogo made a final call for everyone in Zootopia to be looking for Judy Hopps a.k.a. "Masked-J" the orange coat rabbit, and Nicholas Wilde a.k.a. "Masked-N", the blue cape fox, and that if anyone may knew about their current whereabouts, they didn't have to doubt in saying it to the ZPD, since this was now considered as a first priority case in the whole city, and that every avaible officer was now looking for the robbers all day and night... Nick turned off the TV and gazed at Judy.   
   
"I know, I know... we're doomed", Judy covered her eyes with her paws, she removed them and took a deep breath, "I need a shower to shake of the stress", the bunny hopped down from the chair and walked towards the "bath" door, "You have an extra towel right?", the fox nodded and then she proceeded into the door.   
   
The sound of a familiar van's horn made Nick to immediately exit from the room and head to the hangar's exterior, there he met up with Finnick, who was looking at him with his lazy glance of always, the small fox hopped down from the driver's cabin and went to the back part of the van, he opened the back doors and revealed two big boxes that were loaded with new clothes for Nick and Judy... but they weren't exactly the type of clothes that the fox expected.   
   
"Finnick...", as soon as Nick gazed at one of the boxes' content, he turned back to Finnick with an angry look, "what kind of joke is this?".   
   
"Hey!, you said that you needed new clothes, and those were the cheapest things I could find!", Finnick was chuckling, he grabbed the box that was containing Judy's clothes and placed it down in the ground, "Hahaha, don't worry Nicky I'm just joking with ya'!, your real clothes are at the end of the box, but I just couldn't resist to tease you with this!".

"W-where did you get this anyway...?", Nick was grabbing one of the clothes by the collar, he still couldn't belive it.

"From a store in da' mall, "you two" have become quite popular actually!", Finnick was chuckling and slowly walking away from the back of the van, "I hope you enjoy your new clothes!, I gotta' get going now!, smell ya' later!".  
   
The fox hopped back in to the driver's cabin and turned on the engine, he left the hangar while still laughing due to the aspects of the clothes that he just gave to Nick, who was still looking angrily at his old companion's bad sense of humor, but he couldn't do anything now, he was already gone so Nick took both boxes with him back to the room in the hangar, and when he got there, right before he entered the room, he found Judy sitting in a chair drinking water in a cup, she was completely covered by the pink towel that Nick mentioned to her before.   
   
"Ca... carrots?", Nick dropped the boxes and was staring at Judy.   
   
"Phew!, you're finally here!, now I can take this thing off...", Judy began to take off the towel that was covering her body, while Nick was shouting; "What are you doing?!".   
   
"Haha!", Judy revealed that she was already wearing her police uniform, "I wanted to see your reaction!, you should see your face now!".   
   
Nick was mumbling, he went to the small table and placed both boxes there, "Very funny... let's see how last your laugh last you when check out your future clothes".   
   
Judy arched down an eyebrow, she opened the smaller box that was surely for her, and when she saw the look of the first garment, she froze immediately and her pupils shrank, her ears dropped down and slowly began to turn her head towards Nick, who was already pulling out the attire from his own box. He first pulled off the black vest with blue buttons, followed up by the white shirt, then a big ribbon that could be attached to the collar, and finally a blue cape and black pants.   
   
The bunny cop wanted to say something, but she was still paralyzed, however, Nick was able to say it for her, "I'm going to kill Finnick for this".


	4. Undercover

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Both Nick and Judy got a week off from their jobs due to their recent and high quality performance in the ZPD, they headed to Bunny Burrows and spent their free time there in Judy's parents farm. However, when they returned, they found a very nasty surprise waiting for them back at the city; Judy Hopps and Nicholas Wilde were now considered as criminals.

~Abandoned Hangar, Nick's room~

 

"And...", Judy grabbed the small orange coat and dropped it in the air so it could stretch itself, "where did Finnick found this exactly?".   
   
"He said that it was in a mall...", Nick was inspecting the big ribbon, "And that "we" have become really popular".   
   
"Har-har...", Judy spoke to herself,  "dumb foxes".   
   
The clothes that were inside the boxes were exact duplicates of the Masked Duo's clothes, there was an orange coat with green shoulder pads, a blue cape, a blue ribbon, two pairs of pants that were black and white for the fox and the rabbit respectively, and obviously, the masks that were used by the robbers.   
   
"And we are supposed to use this to pass "unnoticed"?", Judy crossed her arms and gazed annoyed at Nick.   
   
"Don't worry, it's Finnick's humor... he said that deep inside... here!", Nick's smirk finally came back to his face once he found out that there were indeed more clothes below the villains' attires, just like the small fox granted to him before.   
   
Judy began to search through her own box and also found that there were more clothes inside, she grabbed them all and went to the "bathroom", she closed the door and began to change her clothes there, leaving the whole room for Nick to use.   
   
The fox disguise consisted in a two parts brown suit, a white shirt and a black tie, it wasn't really a big change for his usual clothes' style, but the suit surely gave him a better impress of himself as he gazed to a mirror, "Hello handsome, are you single?", Nick chuckled and then returned back to the box on the table, he began to put the villain's clothes in it, but he found out that there was one more item hidden below the elegant set that was now wearing, and that item was a temporary paint spray for fur, like some kind of makeup but for the entire body, which meant that it was able to turn Nick's orange fur into white, which was the color of the spray can, "You think of everything don't you?, dumb fox", he knew that he owned Finnick a big favor after this, so he immediately began to spray the paint around his face, his paws, his feet and his tail, and when he was finally done, Nick had already become an arctic fox.   
   
He returned to look at himself in the mirror, he changed his voice tone to a one that was more low and deep, he chuckled again and heard the sound of how the door of the "bathroom" was being opened, he quickly turned his back to the door, and set his eyes directly on the entering rabbit.   
   
"Hey carrots! You like my n-", Nick wasn't able to finish his line, Judy's new look shocked him completely, she was wearing a blue formal mini skirt with the upper part of a two parts suit, just like the one he was wearing but for females, and it was blue colored, she was wearing a white shirt and a black tie alongside a ribbon that was tying her floppy ears, she was also wearing a pair of black glasses that made her look quite the smart one, and to top it off, it seemed that Finnick also gave Judy a temporary paint spray, since Judy's grey fur was now all brown.   
   
"Wow...", Judy walked slowly towards Nick, when she was right in front of him, she looked at him from head to toe and let out a "phew", "You look like a really respectable businessman mister Wilde".   
   
"Uhmm...", Nick's jaw finally reacted after he shook his head, "th-then I guess that makes you my secretary".   
   
"In your dreams dumb fox", Judy rubbed her arms and gazed at her belly, then she sighed, "I look like Mark Rodent from Supershrew Returns...".   
   
"It's okay", Nick chuckled, "there's no way that anyone's going to recognize us after this", the fox grabbed his sunglasses and put them on, then began to walk towards the exit with Judy following right behind him.   
   
They left the hangar and went towards the bridge, it was a really long way back to the city's heart since now they had no patrol to use, so in the meantime, they decided what would be their temporary "names" and story. The couple was now strolling around the streets of Downtown, they were heading to the first place that was robbed by the Masked Duo, the Crime Museum, which was just a few streets away from their current position. During the walk, the two undercover runaway cops felt a sweet relief in their bodies, since all the verbal attacks, all the accusations and disgusting looks were nowhere to be found, apparently, their business disguises were actually doing their job and keeping them from the common citizens' radar, but now the cop issue...   
   
After getting to the Crime Museum entrance, Nick and Judy found that unfortunately, the place was crawling with cops and it was closed for public.   
   
"Great... now how are we supposed to enter?", Judy adjusted her glasses and tickled her nose.   
   
"Leave it to me carrots", Nick drew his smirk of always and walked towards the two cops that were covering the entrance, "Hello there officers!".   
   
"Hello mister... err...", the wolf's nose was also tickling and he was gazing carefully at Nick, "don't I know you?".   
   
"Oh I don't think so, it's first time that we've been assigned to a robbery case".   
   
"Assigned?", both Judy and the wolf spoke at the same time, then the bunny went right to Nick's side and continued, "Oh I mean yeah!, we're researchers from a newspaper in the city!".   
   
"Hmm...", the other cop, who was a tiger, inspected the two curious looking reporters just like his partner, "And what?, you want to enter?, who gave you the authorization huh?, there's a whole protocol about this".   
   
"P-protocol?", Nick swallowed and tremble, he didn't knew anything about any protocols, he didn't even took a look to the academy's law book.   
   
"Yeah, you must have a-".   
   
"Article number 34 second paragraph, and I quote; "the police would grant qualified researchers the pertinent access to any crime scene as long as they have the required papers and information, which would be ID cards, special permission, lethal statements, and the signature of the precinct's respective chief", sigh", Judy giggled and adjusted her glasses, "and since we already talked to chief Bogo a few hours ago...", she began to search inside the pocket that was attached to one of her suit's sides, like if she was actually going to show everything that she said just a few seconds ago, but the frozen wolf interrupted her.   
   
"Uhm... don't worry miss uhh... what's your name again?", the wolf gazed at the tiger who had his jaw nearly touching the floor.   
   
"Just call me Ginnifer!", Judy turned to Nick and stretched a paw towards him, "and this is uhm... Jason!", Nick smirked as his eyes were arched down.   
   
"Well miss Ginnifer...", the tiger cleared his throat, "I've never encountered a... researcher... so applied in the study of law and protocols so... yeah... uhm...".   
   
"You can enter without problems!", the wolf opened the museum's main door and stepped aside, "just make sure to don't interfere with any current investigation that's developing inside!".   
   
"Thank you!, c'mon Ni-ehem- Jason!", Judy grabbed one of Nick's paws and took him inside with her.   
   
After getting far enough inside the building, far away from the cops in the entrance, both the bunny and the fox laughed, they remained like that for half a minute, and when the comical post-effects of Judy's acting outside had already vanished, Nick crossed his arms and smirked.   
   
"And I thought I was good at acting", Nick raised his sunglasses, "Way to go out there... Ginnifer", the fox chuckled.   
   
"Well, I guess I've learned something from you after all...", Judy adjusted her glasses and smirked, "besides I knew that something like this could happen...", the two undercover cops were now walking through the corridors of the museum, there were more cops around but they were too busy dealing with the investigation issue, so they would probably don't listen to their talking.   
   
"You mean the "protocol" thing?, you really had prepared ID cards and all of that?".   
   
Judy giggled and stopped, then she turned backwards and was now looking at Nick face to face, "Actually, I may have lied a bit back there".   
   
Nick didn't respond, his mouth opened a pair of centimeters, but Judy wasn't done talking.   
   
"No one usually studies those kind of articles from the law book, I learned that in the academy when I always had good grades and everyone else... well", she giggled, "you can guess".   
   
"Yeah... hehe... we were lucky that those two didn't read them...", Nick began to walk and passed by Judy's side, his tail was moving strangely and he was scratching his back.   
   
"And I guess you didn't read them either... right Jason?", Judy crossed her arms and smirked.   
   
Nick stopped and groaned, "Let's just keep going miss always A+", Judy chuckled and turned back again, then she continued to walk side by side with Nick.   
   
The museum was exceptionally large and spacious, the floor was made from dark and pale brown tiles, the walls and the pillars that decorated the place where all completely white, they were giving it a more refined and sophisticated aspect to the building, the window's glasses were no exception, all of them clean and transparent, like if they weren't even there, the light of the sun was bathing the corridors and making that, even a place that was called "Crime Museum", could shine like the greatest palace of the whole city.   
   
Walking through the corridors, the couple was able to see many officers scouting around, some of them were permanently placed in one determined piece of art in the exhibition, while the other was wandering around the whole place. The exhibition itself looked kind of interesting, since most of the pieces that were in the showcases were guns, blades, every type of tool or weapon that was once used by some of the most feared crime bosses in the city, so it wasn't as boring as seeing an old fragment of papyrus or a bucket of sand from Sahara Square.   
   
They got to the main exhibition room, which was in the north area of the museum, literally at the edge, there were two pillars attached to the door that lead to the room, and right on top of them, there was a golden plate that surely was used to resemble the inside showcase's relevance. When they approached, the wooden doors opened violently, a pair of armadillos in suit exited the room, they were shouting at each other and telling to shut up, kind of like Bucky and Pronk thought Judy, but in armadillo version, they were getting away slowly from the room and didn't close the doors, so it was the perfect chance for the undercover duo to act.   
   
After entering the room, which was a square area not even bigger than Judy's apartment, they gazed at a showcase that had a clean hole made in the center, and a small violet cushion lying in its interior.   
   
"This must be the place from where they stole the scimitar... Nick!, let me get on top of your shoulders so I can take a shot of the showcase".   
   
Nick, who was mumbling and sighed just after his partner said that, helped her to get on top of his shoulders and was now grabbing her legs with his paws, he walked towards the showcase and was right before it, while Judy, was gazing carefully at the open hole, she grabbed her cell phone and took a picture of the showcase. Judy gazed at the picture and smiled, but her pupils shrank and her mouth became incredibly tiny as she heard a pretty familiar voice shouting; "Hey!, what do you think you're doing?!". Nick also fell prey to nervousness and began to shake, he was now trembling and loosing control, and even though Judy tried to held on to Nick's shoulders with her paws, the couple came crashing right into the ground, with Judy falling on top of Nick.   
   
When they opened their eyes, they gazed at a pretty fat cheetah that was looking at them from the entrance with both of his paws on his waists.   
   
"Clawhauser?!", Judy shouted and got up immediately, then she began to shook her suit.   
   
Nick got up as well and rubbed his head, then the cheetah walked towards them, "This a-area it's just for authorized personal!, and how do you know my name anyway?".   
   
Judy didn't answer, Nick in the other hand answered with a sigh and with his finger pointing towards Clawhauser's chest plate, "Oh right... the plate... hehe".   
   
"So, Claw-ehem mister... police officer?", Judy tried her best to change her tone of voice to something more acute than usual, since they were now dealing with someone that actually knew them pretty well, "I'm Ginnifer and he is Jason!, we're researchers from a local newspaper!".   
   
"Oh?, so that means you count with the requirements of article 34 second paragraph... right?".   
   
Nick gazed at Judy with the eyes of being about to twist her ears between them, while Judy's pupils were still tiny.   
   
"Good!", Clawhauser chuckled as he grabbed his stomach with both paws, while the couple did the same in return in a sarcastic tone, "what can I do you for you?".   
   
The cheetah resulted to be a good contribution to Nick and Judy's undercover investigation, Clawhauser was kind of clumsy and always had breaches in his manner of speaking, breaches that someone like Nick could easily exploit and gain valuable information regarding case, while Judy was right next to him, taking notes on whatever the cheetah was letting out from his mouth.   
   
"So no one saw them get away?, the cameras weren't working?", Judy adjusted her glasses and stretched her uncomfortable short mini skirt.   
   
"I think not, the first hit was actually the best...", Clawhauser was touching his index fingers between them, "The other places were the ones from where we got more clues... that's why they sent me here, there's nothing really relevant".   
   
Judy felt sad for Clawhauser and wanted to comfort him, but Nick continued with the questions regardless, "And what can you tell us about the stolen item?".   
   
"Not much, it was an old scimitar brought a few weeks ago by one of the Museum's associates".   
   
"Museums have... associates?", Judy wrote that as a side note.   
   
"In these days yeah, they contribute with any type of invaluable objects that they find in their own, that's why most of them are archeologists and stuff like that...", Clawhauser went to the showcase and gazed at it, "they gave the objects to the museum and then he pays back to them".   
   
"Judy...", Clawhauser was still talking, but he wasn't looking at the couple, so Nick used that breach to talk to Judy softly, "I don't think we're going to get anything else from him, we should go to the next museum and see what we can find there...".   
   
Judy nodded, then cut out Clawhauser's rambling, "Thank you for your support officer Clawhauser!".   
   
"Oh it's nothing!", but apparently he didn't notice that he was being cut out, "It's a pleasure to help others!".   
   
The undercover couple nodded and began to walk towards the door, but the cheetah, that was now showing his back to them, spoke softly, "Especially if they are some of my dearest old friends". Nick and Judy froze in their places, just a few steps away from the door in the corridor, their pupils were really tiny and they were sweating, it was clear that Clawhauser had recognized them from the start and had been just playing with them, probably telling them anything but real information about the case, they couldn't move, they couldn't say anything, just thinking in the fact that maybe the cheetah had already called for reinforcements so they could apprehend the couple in site, was more that enough to immobilize both the fox and bunny, who finally, after swallowing hard, nodded her head to Nick, giving him the signal that they would have to use the "plan B", and so slowly, Nick began to pull out a tranq-gun from his pocket inside the suit...   
   
"Oh don't act like that!", the cheetah ran towards the couple and grabbed a shoulder from each one, "what I meant to say is that you look like some of my dearest old friends!, you see... they're also a fox and a bunny!, I think it's a pretty popular combination nowadays'...".   
   
Nick swallowed and placed the gun back at his pocket slowly, "Uhmm... s-sure!, b-but... w-who do you mean with old friends?".   
   
"You see...", Clawhauser took a deep breath, "I don't know what I'm telling you this but... there is this bunny and this fox, Judy and Nick, they solved a pretty big case and were considered as heroes for our city... but now everyone thinks that they're a pair of robbers just because some idiots resulted to be of the same species...".   
   
Judy's pupil went back to normal, she rolled gazed at Nick and found a sad look in his face, then she rolled her eyes down.   
   
"And even though I wanted to help them... it almost cost me my job at the precinct... so now I'm just limited to do what the superiors say...", Clawhauser's tone was getting lower and more sad, almost like if he was about to cry, but not enough, "but I still believe in them!, and I hope that they can solve things again...".   
   
The couple turned back to Clawhauser and gazed at him, they were now smiling, they wanted to hug him and tell him the truth, but that surely would be too risky for them and for Clawhauser itself since the place was still crawling with other cops, so they preferred to remain undercover...   
   
"Don't worry, I now they will get through this...", Judy adjusted her glasses.   
   
"Yeah, they seem like really nice people!... just like you officer", Nick placed his paws inside his pants pockets and smirked.   
   
"Oww you're so nice!, here... you can have one of these!", Clawhauser lend a card to Nick, but the smile that he drew across his face after the white fox's last sentence was cut out due to the shout of an officer coming from the corridor, "Oops!, I have to go... later!", the cheetah seemed pretty funny as he ran, his whole body was shaking and his tail was wagging from a please to another, "If you need anything ask for Benjamin Clawhauser in the precinct!, I'll gladly receive..." his voice disappeared in the corridor at last, he was no longer in the couple's range of vision.   
   
Nick gazed at the card, it was a actually a pamphlet of the museum that had a photograph of the building and the names of all the associates, all black and white, he placed it in one of his pockets and sighed, then gazed at Judy, whose eyes were now filled with determination.   
   
"Let's go Nick", Judy began to advance towards the exit, "We have a lot of museums and galleries to visit yet".   
   
"Wow, it seems that our friend Clawhauser got to you miss Ginnifer...", Nick chuckled as he walked right behind Judy, "and it's Jason for you sweetheart".   
   
"Whatever...", she chuckled and took her glasses off, "Alright then Jason... we have more undercover work to do".


End file.
